Benjamin Stark

Benjamin Stark (26 June 1820-10 October 1898) was a US Senator from Oregon (D) from 29 October 1861 to 12 September 1862, succeeding Edward Dickinson Baker and preceding Benjamin F. Harding.

Biography
Benjamin Stark was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1820, and he engaged in mercantile pursuits in New York City from 1835 to 1845. He sailed to Portland, Oregon in 1845, and he set up shop there. In 1850, he became a lawyer, and he was elected to the state legislature two years later, serving as a Whig. He later returned to the state legislature as a Democrat, and he served in the US Senate from 1861 to 1862. After leaving the Senate, he moved to Connecticut, and he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1864 before becoming a lawyer in New London. He died in 1898.